Proper flow, effective movement and efficient processing — those are the keys to meat plant and fabrication room design. I’ve recently had the exciting opportunity to design, stock and operate a new meat fabrication room at our Certified Angus Beef Culinary Center. Working out of that new fabrication room, which we like to call “The Meat Lab,” for more than a year now, we’ve been able to evaluate the benefits and challenges.
One of the primary concerns of most meat plant design projects is the best use of space within the allowable footprint. Property space will always be limited, so efficiency begins with the processing room design. Although we naturally want to find the best use of every square inch available, that does not mean putting equipment on every square inch. Rather, it means choosing the right thing to place in the right spot while allowing for personnel movement.